WisdomTree and iShares plan corporate bond ETFs

Both WisdomTree and iShares are gearing up to launch corporate bond exchange traded funds (ETFs), according to filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

WisdomTree’s actively-managed Global Corporate Bond Fund, will seek both income and capital appreciation, by investing in both “investment grade” and non-investment grade (junk bond) securities”. It will employ “top down analysis of economic factors and bottom up analysis of countries and issuers”.

The iShares Corporate Bond Fund meanwhile, will look to differentiate itself from other corporate bond ETF offerings by avoiding investments in the financials sector. According to the the SEC filing, the passive fund’s underlying index comprises “US dollar-denominated, taxable, investment grade bonds”, but is ‘“stripped of financial issuers”.